Thursday, October 26, 2017

Toonfomercial: Remember W. C. Fritos? (1973)

After pressure from certain corners forced Frito-Lay's advertising agency to retire the Frito Bandito (Mel Blanc) in 1971, the snack giant found a short-term answer in 1973 in W. C. Fritos, modeled after actor-comedian W. C. Fields. I'd not be surprised to learn Paul Frees was hired to do the voice......

Ah, yas, yas indeed. If anyone can confirm that it was Frees or another impressionist that voiced W. C. Fritos, please share.

I am aware of the Frito Bandito coming under fire, but I don't think I ever encountered W.C. Fritos. I do remember Keebler employing a Fields caricature of their own, an elf named C.C. Biggs, named after their then brand of chocolate chip cookies of the same name (they were called that 'cause the chips were huge). Caricaturing Golden Age film and TV stars was a fairly common practice back in the day.

Another interesting item of the day was the "W.C. Fields Battery Tester". I actually found one years back at some antique shop I bought! Sadly the colors have faced on it but it's still in its package!http://historysdumpster.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-wc-fields-battery-tester.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJrvH9wTPBw